- Pat O’Brien, The Boy With Green Hair, 1947. Director Joseph Losey asked scenarist Ben Barzman (both future Blacklistees) to write Gramp for Sharpe, the old Irish music-hall star playing Finian in Finian’s Rainbow on Broadway. RKO boss Howard Hughes was furious. He would not gamble a $1m film on a kid (Dean Stockwell), a green wig and an unknown Grandpa. Or, not when O’Brien was still under contract. And, thereby, cheaper. “A disastrous compromise,” said Losey. Not his last.
Birth year: 1885Death year: 1970Other name: Casting Calls: 0